Platte Dems
Newsletter of the Platte County Democratic
 Central Committee
    Volume 11 No. 4                                                                                                                                         April  2019
 
 
In This Issue
Turn Platte Blue 2020
Platte County Govt
NP Earth Day
Building Blue
PCDCC
NDC
PCFWDC
Quick Links
  
  
Calendar   
 
April 28 - Earth Day Work Session - Northland Progress, 2 p.m.  See below.  
 
May 13 - Platte County Federated Women's Democratic Club - Platte County Resource Center, 11724 NW Plaza Circle, KCMO. 5:30 pm.      
 
May 16 - Platte County Democratic Central Committee - Platte County Resource Center, 11724 NW Plaza Circle, KCMO.  7:00 pm.   
 
May 21 - Northland Democratic Club - 4120 NW Vivion Road, Kansas City, MO (SHEA office,across from Penguin Park). 7:00 pm. 
 
 
 
Other Events:
 
Jackson County Democrats - click here.  
Indivisible Kansas City - click here.
Greater KC Women's Caucus - click here.
Heartland Alliance for Progress - click here.  
Northland Progress - click here.
ResistHate KC - click here.
Buchanan County Democrats - click here.         
 
 Turn Platte Blue 2020 
The April 20 Turn Platte Blue event at Argosy Casino was a huge success.  Over 130 attendees enjoyed a great brunch, silent auction and Democratic gathering.
 
Matt Sain
Matt Sain, Missouri State Representative from the 14th District, served as Master of Ceremony with opening remarks and introduced the other speakers.
 
The speakers  comments had several common threads.  We need to recruit a candidate for every office, raise money, expand our voter base and show that our candidate's progressive beliefs match what many non-Democratic voters believe.  Fundraising is especially important as that is needed to get our message out.  Whenever a Democrat goes to a meeting, rally or other event, they can ask one or two friends or acquaintances
Melba Nicolaisen
to go along to see what issues Democrats work for.  To see names and photos of our speakers, click here.  
 
The highlight of the event was honoring Melba Nicolaisen as the 2019 Platte County Democrat of the Year.  Melba has tirelessly worked for Democrats for many years canvassing, phone banking, fundraising and doing  all the other jobs needed to make Democratic candidates successful.  Also, Melba has given her time as a member of many Democratic organizations often serving as a officer.   A well deserved honor to an outstanding Democrat.  
 
 
Democrats from Near and Far
Views on Platte County Government by David Park  
ZONA ROSA LAWSUIT - Platte County loses this round.
 
On Friday, April 5, Judge Van Amburg denied a motion for protective order that had been filed by Platte County's attorney Todd Graves. The motion was an attempt to stop discovery efforts of the defendant in the case (the bond trustee).
 
After the commissioners and county auditor were served notices of deposition (questioned while under oath), Graves Garrett quickly acted to file a motion for summary judgement to prevent the depositions from occurring and to withhold other information the bond trustee is seeking. Todd Graves essentially argued that any information obtained in the depositions, or through additional requested documents, will have no bearing on the outcome of the case. The defense argued that they are the ones being sued and need the depositions and additional information to prepare a defense against the lawsuit.
 
Both sides quoted Missouri Supreme Court Rules and previous case law and then the judge quickly ruled in favor of the defendants and denied the motion. This means the commissioners and auditor will have to participate in depositions and that the costs associated with the lawsuit will increase.
The hearing on the lawsuit itself is scheduled for May 24 and the attorney fees through February had already grown to $290,000. At this pace, the total fees charged up to the hearing will approach $500,000. Then, regardless of outcome, what if the losing side appeals to a higher court? I think it's time for the commission to stop spending our tax dollars in a futile effort to justify their actions that lead to Platte County's poor credit rating.
Earth Day Work Session    
Earth Day is here and we need to give back to this beautiful planet that we are lucky enough to call home.

Join Northland Progress for a family-friendly Earth Day work session on Sunday, April 28, 2019, from 2:00 to 4:30 p.m. at the non-profit Charlotte Sawyer Conservation Area at 6075 NW Union Chapel Road, Parkville, MO 64152.  The conservation area is owned and operated by the Platte Land Trust.

Volunteers will be trimming invasive plants, mulching trails and making birdhouses. Please be sure to wear fully enclosed shoes and head coverings.

This is a FREE event that is family friendly so bring your whole crew and enjoy a day outside with Northland Progress.    

Event Information:
Where: Charlotte Sawyer Conservation Area located at 6075 NW Union Chapel Road, Parkville, MO 64152.

When: April 28, 2019 from 2:00 to 4:30 p.m. 
Building Blue - Missouri Democratic Party 
The Missouri Democratic Party held the launch concert for the Building Blue program on Saturday, April 20, at Boulevard Brewery.  The event was attended by over 150 people including Platte County Central Committee members Barb Stubbs, Stacey Webb, John Kirchmeier and David Christian.  

Mayor Sly James and MDC Chair Jean Peters Baker addressed the crowd stressing that we cannot rely on just pointing out how bad Trump is to win in 2020.  We must develop a pipeline of candidates, activists and future staff through training.  The crowd was entertained by the band The Grisly Hand.

The Building Blue program is designed to fund those efforts.  The goal is to raise $65,000.  Due to the success of the launch concert, we are a third of the way there.  They are seeking commitments to make a recurring monthly online contribution of $20.20 to the program. (You can join at www.missouridemocrats.org/2020 ).  Proceeds from the online store (at store.missouridemocrats.org ) will also go to the program.    
 
Platte County Democratic Central Committee     
The Platte County Democratic Central Committee met on April 18 st at the Platte County Resource Center.  
 
A report was presented on the recent Turn Platte Blue event.  See separate article.  Discussion of open seats on the Central Committee centered on recruiting new members.  A Northland Progress Earth Day event was announced, see separate article.   
 
Henry Martin, past and current candidate for Missouri 6th Congressional District, spoke of lessons learned from his last campaign and changes to be implemented in his current campaign.    He will be hiring new campaign staff with an emphasis on fund raising.
 
Other discussions concerned the high percentage of yes votes on 2018 progressive propositions which indicated that a number of Republicans were supporting these issues.  But when it comes to voting for candidates that support these issues, these same voters vote for Republican candidates.  This has been a particularly difficult behavior to change.  
Northland Democratic Club
The Northland Democratic Club met on Tuesday April 16 at SHEA office on Vivion Road. The guest speaker was Lindsey Baker from the Missouri Budget Project.
 
She explained how incremental tax cuts and other revenue reductions over a long period of time had placed Missouri below even Kansas in many categories of state funding.  Because of the Hancock Amendment and the negative attitude of state government, the best chance of realizing some increase of revenue was to close tax loopholes.  While this has bipartisan support, disagreements over how to allocate the funding hinders any real progress.  The "Wayfair Fix" will also help Missouri.  For more information click here.  
 
KC Mayoral candidates Quinton Lucas and Jolie Justus are scheduled to speak next month. 
Platte County Federated Democratic Women's Club  
Platte County Women's Club met at the Platte County Resource Center on Monday March 18h. Victor Abundis, candidate for Congress from the 6th District, spoke about his life and reasons for running for office.